SPLT awarded $990,000 Michigan Mobility Challenge grant

Grants offered to companies that can fix lapses in transportation for seniors, people with disabilities, veterans

Goal of SPLT grant is to improve transportation infrastructure in rural counties

SPLT plans to use funding to refine existing platform designed for health care providers to cut cancellations

In a push to improve transportation infrastructure in rural counties across the state, the Michigan Department of Transportation has awarded $990,000 to Detroit-based transit service company Splitting Fares Inc., known as SPLT, through the Michigan Mobility Challenge.

The $8 million grant program, announced in May at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, is offered to companies that can fix the lapses in transportation for seniors, people with disabilities and veterans. The grant is funded by the state's general fund.

Michigan Mobility Challenge awards

Eight other projects have been selected for full or partial funding in the first round of the $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge:

$402,800 to Huron Transit Corp. to expand existing resources in Huron County

$233,000 to Pontiac-based Kevadiya Inc. to help veterans pinpoint their final point of care

SPLT, purchased by Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH in 2018, operates as an independent subsidiary under the auto supplier, based locally in Farmington Hills, and allows companies to create app-based carpooling programs for its employees.

SPLT plans to use the funding to refine alerts and reminders on its existing platform designed for health care providers to cut "cancellations and no-shows," MDOT said in a news release.

The technology will be launched alongside the Bay Area Transportation Authority, Benzie Transportation Authority and Allegan County Transportation.

"With this award, we will be able to improve lives and simplify transportation access for those most underserved in rural Michigan, " SPLT CEO Anya Babbitt said in the release. "With Michigan as our launching pad, we plan to scale across the state and the country."

"Bosch is committed to developing and deploying connected mobility solutions globally, and this is exactly the type of project we envisioned when we added SPLT to the Bosch portfolio," Kevin Mull, director of sales, connected mobility solutions for Bosch North America, wrote in a statement emailed to Crain's.

Thus far, the department has received 43 proposals calling for $27 million in funding, MDOT said. A total of eight projects have been chosen for full or partial funding in the first round.

"The $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge allows us to better utilize the assets we have and introduce new methods for solving mobility gaps and getting travelers to their destinations as safely and efficiently as possible," State Transportation Director Kirk Steudle said in the release.